The process of coating glass with a layer of silicon or a silicon complex, by continuous chemical treatment of a hot glass substrate with a non-oxidizing gas containing a monosilane, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,877 to Kirkbride at al. The use of ethylene in the non-oxidizing gas of the Kirkbride et al. process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,444 to Landau, which additionally discloses that the inclusion of ethylene improves the resistance of the silicon complex layer to attack by alkali compounds.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,000 to Gordon discloses that mixture of ammonia and titanium tetrachloride are useful for coating glass substrates by chemical vapor deposition, to produce coatings of titanium nitride.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,330 to Donley discloses a process for coating a glass substrate with a first layer of silicon and a second layer of a metal oxide.
Typically, coated glass articles are produced by continuously coating a glass substrate while it is being manufactured in a process known in the art as the "Float Glass Process". This process involves casting glass onto a molten tin bath which is suitably enclosed, thereafter transferring the glass, after it has sufficiently cooled, to lift-out rolls which are aligned with the bath, and finally cooling the glass as it advances across the rolls, initially through a lehr and thereafter while exposed to the ambient atmosphere. A non-oxidizing atmosphere is maintained in the float portion of the process, while the glass is in contact with the molten tin bath, to prevent oxidation. An oxidizing atmosphere is maintained in the lehr.
It would be advantageous to deposit the desired coating layers onto the surface of a glass substrate while the glass is being formed in the Float Glass Process.